Weber Shandwick and United Minds Introduce Cultural Vigilance Suite of Services to Help Boards and CEOs Assess Culture and Mitigate Risk

NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Weber Shandwick and United Minds, the firm's management consultancy specializing in transformation, today announced a suite of new and expanded offerings designed to help companies assess cultural risk within their organizations and put into action consistent, proactive cultural vigilance – the practice of monitoring culture, preparing for cultural crisis and actively changing culture for the better. In addition to expanded crisis preparedness and culture change solutions, Cultural Vigilance includes the Culture Risk Check, a new auditing tool which assesses organizations against six key indicators predictive of cultural risk. Results help organizations predict crises they are at risk for, enabling them to mitigate issues and protect their brands, reputations and, most importantly, their people.

"We're in an era of intense transparency and corporate scrutiny, when any cultural issue can escalate quickly. It's not enough for companies to go into action when crisis hits – organizations today need to shift from reactive reputation repair to proactive cultural auditing and constant preparedness, while ensuring they are fostering cultures that are in line with their stated values," said Sarah Clayton, executive vice president, United Minds. "We are helping companies build and maintain cultures that not only embody their stated values and ways of working, but are built to withstand our current, volatile business environment."

The six indicators in the Culture Risk Check were derived from research the firm conducted, in partnership with KRC Research, with 1,000 full-time employees in U.S. companies (500 full-time employees or more) that tracked conditions most associated with cultural crises. In the survey, 22% of respondents reported at least one cultural crisis in their organization in the last two years, with 30% saying their company is at risk for a culture-related crisis in the next two years.

When combined with the firm's services in culture change and crisis preparedness, the Culture Risk Check joins a suite of offerings that help companies build cultures that attract the best talent, align with company values and guard against crises:

• CultureCheck: The Culture Risk Check, grounded in the firm's years of experience on the front lines of corporate crises and its new research, assesses the six indicators most predictive of cultural risk, including inadequate investment in employees; lack of accountability; lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion; poor behavior at the top; high-pressure environments and unclear ethical standards. The resulting scorecard assigns severity status to each indicator and helps Boards and CEOs identify hotspots that need to be addressed before crisis strikes. In M&A situations, the tool helps acquiring companies understand the cultural issues they're taking on and helps surface cultural compatibilities and incompatibilities between the two companies.
• CulturePrep: This solution includes planning and training services to ensure the right processes, tools and capabilities are in place to manage through known cultural issues. Preparation often includes crisis simulation workshops powered by Weber Shandwick's award-winning, interactive simulator, Firebell – built to stress-test teams and equip them for real-time response.
• CultureShift: Culture is one of the most important assets for an organization – and a strong, united culture attracts the best talent and builds an organization positioned to deliver business results. CultureShift, the firm's culture change methodology, is grounded in behavioral science and through communications, training and incentive systems, aids organizations in nurturing the specific attitudes, beliefs and actions that not only support business strategy but guard against risk.

"Our clients face a variety of risks in today's complex landscape, especially in an era where employees are among any organization's most important – and vocal – stakeholders. Building on our long record of partnering with clients to prepare for and manage crises, we have strengthened our offering to bring tools that address culture and crisis together, as they are often inextricably linked," said Peter Duda, executive vice president and co-lead, global crisis communications and issues management, Weber Shandwick. "Response is a necessity in times of crisis, but history and experience have taught every business sector that issues preparedness and cultural strength are key to preventing crisis in the first place – which is why this offering is a vital arsenal for our clients."

For more information about the Cultural Vigilance suite of offerings and the survey findings, visit https://unitedmindsglobal.com/cultural-vigilance. In addition to Cultural Vigilance, United Minds offers culture architecting, culture campaigns and reactive culture change, and often partners with global companies to establish a single company culture across geographies (culture across cultures).

About United Minds

United Minds is a management consultancy that specializes in transformation. Leveraging a deep bench of specialists, the company helps organizations deliver positive, lasting change by combining data-fueled strategy and creative communications solutions, engaging stakeholders in every part of the process. United Minds is part of Weber Shandwick, one of the world's leading communications and marketing solutions firms. For more information, visit www.unitedmindsglobal.com

About Weber Shandwick

Weber Shandwick is a leading global communications network that delivers next-generation solutions to brands, businesses and organizations in major markets around the world. Led by world-class strategic and creative thinkers and activators, we have won some of the most prestigious awards in the industry. Weber Shandwick was named to Ad Age's Best Places to Work in 2019 and was the only PR firm designated an Ad Age A-List Agency Standout in 2017 and 2018. Weber Shandwick was also honored as PRWeek's Global Agency of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and earned 25 Lions at the 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Data-led, with earned ideas at the core, the agency deploys leading and emerging technologies to inform strategy, develop critical insights and heighten impact across sectors and specialty areas, including brand and B2B marketing, healthcare marketing, change management, employee engagement, corporate reputation, crisis management, data and analytics, technology, public affairs, social impact and financial communications. Weber Shandwick is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more information, visit http://www.webershandwick.com

About KRC Research

KRC Research is a global full-service nonpartisan opinion research and strategy firm. A unit of the Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG), KRC Research offers the quality and custom service of a small firm with the reach of a global organization. For over 30 years, KRC Research has worked on behalf of corporations, governments, not-for-profits and the communications firms that represent them. Staffed with multidisciplinary research professionals, KRC combines sophisticated research tools with real-world communications experience. For more information, visit www.krcresearch.com

Contact: Jill Tannenbaum
Company: Weber Shandwick          
Phone: 212-546-7815
Email: [email protected]

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